Poultice - What kind over cut on leg?

[Blondie22]

Not currently dealing with this issue, but what kind of poultice can you use over a minor cut now that the Absorbine Antiphlogistine poultice is not available? Luckily I had some Absorbine poultice left over last year when my horse did something in the field and came in with a puffy leg and an inch long minor gash on his leg (he saw the vet that day!). That poultice really helped bring the heat and swelling down, but I’m all out of it and it is no longer available!

I’ve done a bunch of research but I can’t find anything that I would feel comfortable using. Any suggestions?

[Amy3996]

I’ve always been told not to poultice over broken skin. I’d use something like Equaide to cover a minor cut or scrape, and then poultice the rest of the leg as needed, avoiding the wound.

[beowulf]

As a general rule I do not put poultice on open wounds, especially not as a wrap. YMMV.

I do like FinishLine EZWillow poultice otherwise.

For minor scrapes and cuts on the leg, my horses might get some Banixx spray and that is it. You do not want to be trapping moisture or bacteria in an open wound, too much risk of cellulitis. Legs tend to be more dramatic in terms of reactivity, they puff up at small cuts or scrapes and the next day tend to be fine.

[sascha]

If I could avoid poulticing over an open wound, I would. If not, I’d use Uptite.

And that said, the first part about not using in on open wounds, I will mix Uptite with Epsom salts to pack an open foot abscess, and once most of the grossness is out, I’ll switch out the E-salts for tetracycline powder and Wonder Dust, so meh, it’s probably ok on a small leg wound too. FWIW, I did have a prescription written for that protocol for dairy cows. Vet thought I was nuts, but also didn’t disagree that I got problem feet healed in record time.

Er, and my memory suddenly kicks in … I used the Uptite/Tetracycline/Wonder Dust protocol on a claw amputation. It worked extremely well. That cow healed very well.

[RedHorses]

Sugar or Animalintex. Both would require a wrap.

[IPEsq]

I wouldn’t poultice over broken skin. I would clean the wound and then you could put triple antibiotic or something on it if you want. Cold hose the leg while cleaning if helpful. If you think a wrap would benefit due to swelling (if cut has not gotten infected requiring antibiotics—always seems to happen with my horses for minor leg cuts), dry compression wrap.

[cnd8]

I always prefer icing over poultice or wrapping, if I can. Hose the leg so its saturated, then wrap in an ice wrap for 20ish minutes. You can walk away and it gets the leg so much cooler than hosing, at least here in South Georgia where our ground water isn’t always that cold. Bonus is that it is safe for wounds also.

[mmeqcenter]

Another vote for not poulticing an open wound.
I’d slather the wound in sugardine, wrap them up, and that’s it. If there’s an obvious wound causing the swelling, I treat the wound, not the surrounding swelling.